Tuesday, February 9, 2010

Podcasts, flickr...technology!

I did not know much about podcasts before having to research them for my presentation. I knew they were broadcasts you could download and listen to, but that was about it. While researching for my project I realized they were actually much more than that. Podcasts can really be utilized to be extremely important in the classroom. If your class has its own podcast, it is a great way to keep everyone on the same page and creates much less work for the you (the teacher) in being able to keep absent students up to date and struggling students more repetition. I know I mentioned it in my presentation, but I think it would really help take some stress off the teacher. Finding podcasts is fairly easy and therefore makes them accessible to everyday lessons. I had no idea podcasts could also come in video format, which is great for foreign language. Not only can the students hear about new stuff, but they can watch it as well. I know I found a great podcast on a specific vocabulary unit and showed images of the vocabulary words as it was said out loud. Also, the one posted on the website with Tulum is a great representation of the cultural possibilities. I never had much culture incorporated into my Spanish learning, and I think that in school today culture has a much bigger emphasis. Therefore, it is important in not only telling students about these cultural places and events but also being able to show them.

Flickr was also very interesting to me. I had never even heard of it before, but I think it can also be a great tool to use in the classroom. I can definitely see myself using it in the foreign language classroom.

I'm excited to learn about all of the future technologies of the week, because just with the past 3 I have learned so much and I feel like I am really expanding the possibilities of my teaching. I am really excited about that, because I love feeling like I can use all of the technologies to put in lesson plans that I know my students will react well too. I'm ready to use the technologies...now all I need is a class!

I agree that all of the tech of the week are very interesting and useful. WHen I do have my own class I know I could use the podcasts for my students to listen to documents or famous speeches. This would allow for my students to witness history in a matter of speaking, first hand. Another thing that I found useful is flicker. If I wanted my students to look at, for example, how American's views are presented in art work during a certain period im sure I coud create an album with such art work. Im looking forward to see what other technologys we will see this semester.